Following In a Famous Author's Footsteps

Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist in history, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime.

At least that is what her official website says, which proves self-promotion is the best kind. However as she died in the late seventies, when author websites were unheard of, someone else must be promoting her these days. I mention this author for two reasons, the first being that she died today, January 12^th 1978, and the second is that I have recently changed writing genres to the one which makes Ms Christie so popular. 

Not that I have abandoned the 17^th Century. I love the era, and many Historical Fiction readers love it too, but it's a niche market, so while my next novel, a prequel in the Woulfe's of Loxsbeare series. is boiling away on the hard drive, I have turned to historical cosy mystery writing.

Ms Christie says in her autobiography that: Plots come to me at such odd moments, when I am walking along the street, or examining a hat shop...suddenly a splendid idea comes into my head.

A sentiment I, and I’m sure every author I have ever met shares. That’s how we work. Inspiration rarely comes from sitting at a desk in front of a laptop with a mug of coffee beside us. Well, the coffee helps, lots of it, as it’s essential to thought processes - but the best ideas tend to jump out at us in the course of our everyday lives.

I get my ideas from people watching, the way people dress which illustrates whether they are extrovert in bold colours and outrageous trends, or the shy and quiet personalities who try and melt into the background. Their facial expressions when they are nervous, annoyed etc. ‘Stop staring, Mum’ is a complaint I often hear from my offspring.

Like Agatha Christie, I had no ambition to become a writer either, it just happened.My first book was an exercise I began to see if I was capable of writing a novel, I had no actual plan to get it published. I didn’t know how at the time how – or if I could.

My book evolved with the advice and practical help of my critique group and a mentor who encouraged me to submit the manuscript. I always believed that was it, I was a one trick pony and I couldn’t possibly go through all that research, angst, editing and searching to find the right phrase or expression again. It was too exhausting. However when the book came out, my first instinct was to start another, and now it’s part of my life and I couldn’t stop if I wanted to.Sometimes I wonder if it's worth so much of my time and attention, then I see a mis-matched couple in a restaurant and I'm off creating scenarios again.

Ms Christie’s second book The Secret Adversary began with a woman with an unusual name being discussed by a couple of ladies in a tea shop. I haven't use that particular plot device in my current wip, but a tea shop scene is right in there with the flower patterned china, tiny delicate pastries and the smell of brewed English breakfast tea - all I need now is a story to go with it. But if I keep my eyes open and wait, I’m sure it will leap out at me before long.

Agatha Christie's Website 

 The Rebel's Daughter       The Goldsmith's Wife

 

Tails--I Mean, Tales of a Bad Test Taker by Karla Stover

     Do you know the origins of "tail" and "tale?" I do. A tale is Old English for the act of telling something while tail is Germanic for the hindquarters for an animal. And knowing this is why I am a bad test taker. My brain is a repository for useless information--information not even usable for playing Trivial Pursuit. My brain needs a better storage unit. The left side will, as it always had, hold anything I might need for writing historical fiction and the right side will hold my grocery list. The left side will remember the movie, Cat Ballou was initially issued with a laugh track while the right side should have reminded me this morning, when I left for breakfast with friends, that I'd forgotten my watch. The left side will never forget that the amaryllis I bought my dad isn't really an amaryllis; it's a hippeastrum; the right side will always remember the potatoes on the stove. But back to the plant, since people had been labeling and selling hippeastrum as amaryllis for years, an agreement was made in 1987 to just let the issue go. 
     I am friends with the right side of my brain, but the left side is my BFF. I simply cannot write historical fiction without trying to be accurate about how people lived and how things were done. I'm a slow writer, but I know why people hung long johns in the outhouse--do you? Accuracy is important to me and so is believability. I just finished a book set in New York city circa 1870 where the heroine couldn't wait to leave her dying friend's house so she could hop into bed with the hero. I mean---really? My BFF reminds me that saltpeter was believed to lower the libido but old Right Side says that has been disproved. However, in 1870 the heroine ( a doctor) wouldn't have known about the disprovement. (Is that a word?)
     I am finishing three books right now: one non -fiction and two historical fictions. Two take place in the old west and the other in England. Keeping up with accuracy has me hoping AND--Alzheimer's runs in the family, which Right Side doesn't let me forget.
     And all this is why I am and have always been a bad test taker. How can I care that the Hypotenuse of a Right Triangle is shorter Than the sum of the Two Sides when I need to research a calico ball?

P.S. Want to know a piece of doggerel written to bowel movements? If so, email me--OR come to hear me speak.
    
    
    
    
    

WHERE DID THIS AUTHOR COME FROM?

COLD IN CALIFORNIA

MONKEY JUMP

 

LUCIFER'S GUIDE

You’ve probably asked that question a lot. After reading a great book, one can’t help but wonder what made that particular author see the world that way, tell a story like that, and reach so deeply into your heart. It’s the real reason we write you know; to reach deep into your heart and find a place to connect.

For this writer, I can tell you it isn’t all fantasizing, typing, and smiling at book signings. It’s not all research, focus, and locking everything away while writing. Trust me; it’s not what you think. This writer’s life is a lot like yours. It’s full, and twisted, delicious and pretty messy. Allow me to explain.

I’ve been a radio and television copywriter, a wife (twice, long story), and a mother. I’ve worked in advertising, events planning, and in various offices doing various things; some far more fun than others. At the age of 40 I became a professional chef, a chef instructor, a culinary competitor, and eventually a professional culinary shopper. You’re looking at a grandmother, an author success coach, a speaker, a teacher, and finally a writer.

I’ve survived breast cancer and two divorces, living in Los Angeles and moving three thousand miles…twice. I tend to do things twice. I’m a volunteer, a community activist, and a good neighbor, except to the groundhog who mistakenly believes that I plant lettuce every year just for him and his family.

In other words, this author comes from everywhere and everything. She’s a pretty average person who loves history, spirituality, high energy, entertaining, fantasy, family, travel, and the supernatural. In fact, I think it probably takes all of that to make a writer.

Reading the above list makes me wonder when I got so old. Somewhere between wife and writer I learned something important about why writers write and how to find a place in the reader’s heart. It’s simple. Tell your truth. If a writer’s truth is on the page the reader will feel it, even if that truth is about an angel falling for an outlaw or a vampire seeking the key through the Pearly Gates. If a writer tells a story that taps into all the elements of their life, a reader gets a chance to ride the ride and enjoy the experience. It’s like Disneyland between the front and back cover!

What book took you on that adventure? Which author has found their special place in your heart? I’m Deborah Riley Magnus and I’d love a chance to tell you my stories!